Loomio
Mon 10 Dec 2012 11:59PM

When does a decision get accepted on loomio

HM Hannah Mackintosh Public Seen by 61

The discussion around how many people from each timebank should we have on loomio merged into another important discussion that I think needs it's own thread.

There are two things to consider:
1. What % of people on the loomio group need to have voted in order for a decision to be accepted

  1. Do we work with consensus or majority rules when making decisions

You can see the beginnings of the discussion here: http://www.loomio.org/discussions/1362

We also just had a similar discussion within the Wellington Timebank which you can see here: http://www.loomio.org/discussions/1442

RR

Rebecca Ranum Tue 11 Dec 2012 9:35AM

I think it is important to work with consensus decision making in most instances. Does anyone have experience with any particular models of consensus decision making or know of any models that you would recommend to the group?

DS

Danyl Strype Sun 16 Dec 2012 4:50PM

@rebeccaranum
There are various methods for facilitating a face-to-face group, but few of them are relevant online. The main difference between majority-rules and consensus is that discussions don't arbitrarily end when more than half the group is leaning in one direction. They carry on until every concern has been addressed, and every objection integrated into the proposal. Sure, it sometimes takes longer this way (not always), particularly when people aren't used to it, but I believe it results in more robust decisions, which fully utilize the collective wisdom of the group.

PS

Paul Smith Tue 18 Dec 2012 7:39PM

Totally agree with @strypey. As to how we apply this to loomio I have a few ideas:

A decision should not be passed if it has any votes to block the proposal (the red hand).

A decision can pass with a few Disagree votes, as these are meant to be "I disagree with the proposal but don't mind if it goes ahead" as opposed to the Block "I completely disagree with this proposal and am not OK with it going ahead".
I really think we should consciously utilize the difference between these two votes.

One thing I've noticed from using loomio for a while now is that if there is a more than a few No's or Abstains it's usually a sign that there's a far better decision we haven't got to yet, or that the proposal isn't clear enough.

However when it comes to specific percentages I have no idea as a single "Disagree" vote with a good reason is as powerful as 50% Disagrees without reason.